Felt can add texture, warmth, fun to winter days

It's that time of year when texture, character and warmth define the most successful decor. The perfect time for felt.

This season has seen a variety of creative, decorative felt items for table and tree. You'll find it sewn, lasercut, appliqued or otherwise manipulated to create eye-catching fashion accessories, charming toys and sculptures, and chic items for the home.

Or you can try your hand at felt-making and crafting yourself. (More on that later.)

"There's something so dear and precious about starting with a natural material in its raw state, using a simple tool and my own hands, and transforming it," she says.

There are guides online for making felt candy canes, but if you aren't crafty and still love the look, consider Land of Nod's delicious-looking versions; here too, round ornaments in felt stripes or gathered layers. All would look cute on a kids' tree. www.landofnod.com

The nature of felt — soft, pliable and able to take on a variety of colors — makes it terrific for crafting, not only for designers but for creative amateurs.

"Felt is one of my favorite materials. It's an extremely easy material to work with because, unlike most fabrics, it's non-woven, so it won't unravel and doesn't require hemming," says Jodi Levine, designer-at-large for Martha Stewart Living.

April Tatom of Louisville, Ky., sells felting supplies on her website, www.feltorama.com. When she decided to try her hand at appliqued clothing for children and experimented with various fabrics, "I found that nothing matched the lush texture of felt. It just beckons to be touched and adds a cozy dimension to any project. There's no 'right' or 'wrong' side to it. Felt toys are wonderfully tactile for little fingers and visually stimulating for kids of all ages."

For her own kids, Tatom recently completed a felt "picnic" set complete with a lunchmeat-, cheese- and lettuce-filled baguette, and a cookie for dessert. She also recreated one of her son's favorite book characters, Lowly Worm, from Richard Scarry's "Busytown."

Food is a popular subject for felt crafters, often as soft children's toys but sometimes so realistically rendered that it's elevated to something more artful.

Roving, a washed and carded wool with a texture similar to cotton candy, is the basis for many sculpted felt creatures and items. The fiber is pulled into strands that can be formed and poked with fingers or needles into shapes. Many of the animals on Etsy and in stores are crafted this way; it's easy to manipulate roving and no sewing is required. Check out www.livingfelt.com for supplies and kits.

Alternatively, a method called wet felting uses hot, soapy water and agitation to enmesh wool or other fibers so tightly that they cannot be pulled apart.